"So how exactly are you going to make it up to me?" I ask.
With a nervous look on his face Charles begins to pull a small box from his pocket.
Oh my god please no, is he proposing right now?!I don't want a pity proposal. I really hope this isn't what he's doing, as soon as I see the box pulled from his pocket I start to feel sick.
I love Charles with all my heart but this is too soon and not the right time to be asking.
He opens the box and it isn't a ring. Thank god. I can see by the look on his face that he could tell I was visibly stressed in that moment, which doesn't look great on my part.
As I notice what's in the box, my eyes begin to fill with tears - how? How has he done this. Curled up inside the tiny black velvet box, was my necklace - a necklace I'd lost in the sea 6 months ago. A necklace that meant everything to me.
My mother had passed away when I was only 2 years old, and although I had no memories of her I'd always felt like I somehow still knew her because of all the stories my dad would tell me. The only thing I ever had of hers was a thin gold chain necklace, a tiny heart on it with the letters S & L engraved on the back - our initials. Shannon and Lilly.
It was around 6 months ago, Charles and I along with his younger brother and his mum, had taken his boat out just in the shallow coastal areas of Monte Carlo.
Charles loves diving - I do not.
I'm fine in water where I can see below me, but as soon as it's too dark or to deep and I don't know what's below me - it's a no. That's always completely terrified me, it's kind of a fear of the unknown I guess.
This day Charles had finally persuaded me to jump off the boat with him, something I really did not want to do but I did, we did - hand in hand into the deep water below. Well, deep in my standards, it was probably 40ft to the bottom I imagine.
As we emerged back to the surface of the water after jumping in, I started to panic a little - I didn't like the feeling of being so low, looking up at the boat and having no idea what was below, so I started swimming back to the boat as fast as I could. Grabbing onto the ladder, I slipped getting back on - snagging my necklace on the metal of the stairs and I could do nothing but watch it fall and sink. I thought it was gone forever.
Thinking back to this day it all makes sense now. Charles' dropped me and his mum back at the marina, and him and Arthur went back out on the boat saying that they just wanted to do some more diving.
His mum and I were beginning to get really worried because they didn't return back with the boat until lunch time the next day. Their excuse was that that didn't want to bring the boat back into the marina to dock at night, but now I realise he must have been out there all that time looking for my necklace.
He slowly takes the necklace out of the box, moving my hair to the side as he clicks opens the new clasp and fastens it around my neck. Kissing me gently on the back of the neck after closing the clasp.
"Charles I love you so much, and I love this so much I really can't believe you managed to find it." I say.
"I love you too, and it was my fault you lost it in the first place - there was no way I wasn't getting it back for you." He responds.
My only thought was, if he found it so long ago then why did he keep it until now to give me it back? Unless he did actually plan to give me it on my birthday, knowing how much it would make my day.
"Why did you wait so long to give me it." I ask.
"I didn't find it for weeks, and by that point I wanted to keep it to give you on either your birthday or her anniversary so it felt more special to you getting it back amour."
Weeks?! I assumed he must have found it the night they stayed out, but this man really went back there looking for this until he found it.
As incredibly thoughtful as the helmet was from Lando, this is definitely now the most thoughtful thing anyone's ever done for me, and most likely ever will. I can't believe him.
"I love you so so much." I say. Wrapping my arms around him kissing him and I never want to stop. This night was so special. We just laid in bed talking for hours about so many things from our past, so many memories.
"I remember the first day I saw you when we were kids at the karting track, I pushed you off a few times hoping you would talk to me." He says.
"I knew it!!! Id already watched you race around that track the day before and you were the best, yet I got on and it was like you were in a bumper car." I laugh.
"I knew you didn't speak French back then and you looked alone, I just remember thinking how much I wanted to talk to you." He says.
"And your way of doing that was attempting to anger me, no change there then Charles." I laugh.
"It worked didn't it - look at us now." He winks.
The hours fly by and it's now almost midnight. We really need to get some sleep with it being race day tomorrow. Charles needs to be at his best and I'm so excited yet nervous for him.
Tonight has been amazing, spending every moment with him in pure happiness, I hope tomorrow is a repeat of this - and every night after. Maybe with less clothes on occasion.
He's more than made up for forgetting my birthday itself, this shows me he thinks of me every day - not just for an occasion, which is much more special.
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Lando P2 and Charles DSQ yesterday...
But what happens in Austria on race day tomorrow? 👀
YOU ARE READING
DNS
FanfictionThey were drivers, they were best friends. No one was expecting lockdown to happen in 2020, and Lilly and Charles certainly weren't expecting for their story to turn out like this.
